for example, in the Rabat Plan of Action on the prohibition of advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.178 Such measures include training and sensitizing the security forces, law enforcement agents and those involved in the administration of justice, as well as human rights education and training on human rights values and principles, including in schools. 129. Furthermore, authorities should ensure that they use currently accepted and non-stigmatizing terminology when referring to certain groups that are marginalized on account of, for example, their ethnicity, religion, “race”, citizenship, gender, disability or any other status. To this end, state authorities should consult frequently with human rights defenders on proper, non-biased terminology, and should ensure that such terminology is applied in both written and oral presentations. 130. In line with their OSCE commitments to take strong public positions against hate speech and other manifestations of aggressive nationalism, racism, chauvinism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and violent extremism, as well as occurrences of discrimination based on religion or belief,179 state officials and institutions at the national, regional and local levels should publicly disavow any such manifestations against human rights defenders whenever they occur. 131. Stigmatization also leads to marginalization. In general, it also undermines the credibility of human rights work and, as a result, drains the resources and support needed for this work to be successful. Rather than stigmatizing human rights defenders, participating States should actively and constructively engage with human rights defenders and recognize the relevance and importance of their contributions. In recognition of the fact that members and staff of independent NHRIs are also human rights defenders, participating States should, where required, strengthen their mandate in accordance with the Paris Principles and enable them to effectively reach out to other human rights defenders to stimulate their engagement in public debates. They should also give due consideration to the recommendations and views of independent NHRIs and other human rights defenders, even if these are critical of the government. 132. While the work of human rights defenders often involves criticism of government policies and actions, governments should not see such criticism as negative. “The principle of allowing room for independence of mind and free debate on a government’s policies and actions is fundamental, and is a tried and tested way of establishing a better level of protection of human rights. Human rights defenders can assist governments in promoting and protecting human rights. As part of 178  “Rabat Plan of Action on the prohibition of advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence”, Conclusions and recommendations emanating from the four regional expert workshops organized by OHCHR, in 2011, and adopted by experts in Rabat, Morocco on 5 October 2012, <http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Opinion/SeminarRabat/Rabat_draft_outcome. pdf>, pp. 7-8. 179  Document of the Tenth Meeting of the Ministerial Council (Porto 2002), para. 8. 66 Guidelines on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders